On Monday 19^th June, every member of our Fettes College Third Form travelled to Drumshoreland House, to begin Third Form Field Week. This event, known as TFFW, has developed over 33 years into a highly successful and rewarding part of the calendar.

TFFW is a fantastic opportunity to combine outdoor adventure with academic fieldwork, enabling our Third Form students to do some geographical and biological field study, and to further develop existing skills in the basic outdoor pursuits of orienteering, hillwalking, mountain biking, abseiling, rock climbing and water sports. Mixed into the daily routine were plenty of options for “Free Time”, and the students quickly bonded over frisbee throwing, a range of ball games and Jenga. The absence of mobile devices made for fantastic social mixing and the sound around Drumshoreland House was Third Form students simply having a great time.

One of the highlights of the week happened on the Friday, when every member of Third Form took on a Munro - Ben Chonzie. Despite the long walk and heavy rain, plenty of Fettesian spirit was on show and Mr Rowlands, our Head of Outdoor Pursuits, was proud of the effort and resilience shown by the Third Formers. Although the weather, time and fatigue were against them, one team managed to make it to the summit.

This year’s Third Form Field Week was a great success and hopefully the memories made will stay with the students for a long time. Mr Rowlands said “Drumshoreland House was a new venue for the Third Form Field Week, which is a key event within the Fettes Calendar. The staff worked incredibly hard, and it was an amazing platform to see the Third Form flourish and cement friendships that they have developed throughout their first year in the senior school at Fettes. The activities were designed to offer exposure to the full range of Outdoor Pursuits available at Fettes and we hope that the students will now voluntarily choose to participate in future ventures.”